St. Paul Native Was A Bulldog From The Beginning

As the Bulldogs prepare for their game against Notre Dame today at 4pm, everyone knows that in sports success takes more than individual talent. It also takes chemistry and teamwork, which UMD seems to have hit its stride with at the right time. Their roster includes players from all over, including a key defenseman who grew up much closer to the Main U than Duluth.

Some kids around these parts grow up skating on ponds pretending to be their favorite NHL stars. Others have big dreams of some day slipping on a maroon and gold sweater.

That second scenario describes what Justin Faulk did as a youngster. But his sights were never on donning a Gophers uniform. He always wanted to be a Bulldog.

"From the start I wanted to go to UMD," the freshman defenseman from South St. Paul said Wednesday after Minnesota Duluth wrapped up its Frozen Four practice at Xcel Energy Center. "A month after schools were able to contact me, I decided to commit. I went on a visit right away. It was easy for me."

Faulk's cousin, Marco Peluso, skated for the Bulldogs from 2002 to '05. That was just about the time Faulk first started receiving good-natured chiding from his friends about his rooting interests.

"It was kind of funny because a lot of my friends were big Gophers fans growing up," he said. "I'd always hear it from them -- Gophers, Gophers -- pretty much every kid from the Cities wants to be a Gopher, so I had to deal with that and still do a little bit. But it's fun."

His desire to leave has been the Twin Cities' loss.

Faulk played only two seasons of high school hockey at South St. Paul before joining the U.S. National Development Under-17 team in Ann Arbor, Mich., in 2008 and spent last season with the Under-18 team there.

In his first collegiate season, Faulk has amassed 30 points -- the second most in the country among freshmen defensemen .

That number matches the UMD first-year mark that Tom Kurvers -- who went on to win the Hobey Baker Award in 1984 -- set as a freshman in 1980-81.

"As a coaching staff, we were looking for him to come and make an impact. I have to say, I have not seen a freshman come in and done the things he's done," Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin said of Faulk. "He's made a huge impact despite the high expectations."